Hidden content you're glad didn't make it to the final game

Sonygamer455

Sonygamer455

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While theirs probably an unending list of things we wish could have made it to the final version of a game, one thing I don’t see discussed very often is, what about content you are glad didn’t make it to the final version of the game? I mean, if you read a lot about hidden content, you’re bound to find something that you are glad wasn’t used in the game and probably feel it was better off like this and what they did in the end was better.

Well this is the place to discuss it, hidden content you’re glad wasn’t in the final game. It can be any video game or even earlier versions of said game really. Just make sure what you’re posting about is actually unused in the game. ;)

If you want to discuss hidden content you wish had made it to the final game, go here.
 
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The SIG files in Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver (PC).

These files are music files that were apparently planned to be added to the game at some point, but thankfully never were. The songs are essentially shorter versions of the ones used in the game, possibly intended to loop according to TCRF, with an abrupt ending and really bad sound quality. I am really glad these didn’t make it to the final game because they’re shorter and sound less interesting than the final and the sound quality is absolutely abysmal, easily to worst I have ever heard from a video game. And no that’s not the compression of the video butchering the audio, it just as terrible without it.

What they did with the music in the end was so much better. They had much better sound quality, they were longer and generally more interesting to listen to and overall sounded more like a proper soundtrack to the game.
 
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The unused loading songs from Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition.

Was made aware of this a while back and MC3 apparently had some loading songs that were planned but never used and I have mixed feelings about them overall. Ones like "Opposites Attract", " My Lifestyle", "So Sexy" and "Materialistic" I think are pretty good, however I straight up don't like the ones for "Gangsta" and "Let's Go" (including the artist behind it), I think the rock tracks at 2:25 of the video and onward just don't belong as loading music at all in my opinion and the rest I don't care for.

Maybe my nostalgia is way too strong, but I honestly think what they chose in the final was WAY better. The ones in the final had a calm, relaxing and almost "spooky" vibe to it that I really liked and I just don't get that from these. I find a lot of the unused ones to be a bit out of place (the rock tracks especially) as loading music in MC3. They could work in another MC game perhaps, but just not MC3 in my opinion.
 
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The awkward stop when Crash lands after a high jump in Crash Bandicoot 2.
So in the June 15th, 1997 build of Crash Bandicoot 2 that surfaced recently, it was revealed that if you do a high jump by holding circle and X, theirs a brief moment where you can't control him and you have to wait for Crash to finish his landing animation before you can control him again. This was thankfully changed in the final so when he lands after a high jump, you don't lose control over him and be forced to wait for his animation to finish as the prototype was. Instead, when he lands, he can keep going if you really wanted to.

While it may not sound like much, as a long-time Crash fan, I am so glad they did not carry this over to the final game. Having tried the prototype myself, I found it to be pretty annoying, very restrictive and the longer I played it, the more I hated it. While it makes sense to me why they would have it there, Naughty Dog was so right to leave it out. What we got in the final feels so smooth and refined compared to the prototype and it overall feels so much better.
 
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Come on guys, I can't be the only one here who is glad some things didn't make the cut in a video game.

Yellow Minifigures in Lego Star Wars The Video Game.

So in a video Jon Burton posted on his channel, it revealed they were originally going to have yellow Minifigures in the first LSW game. While I have a soft spot for yellow Minifigures, I am glad they didn't do this because I just don't feel like yellow Minifigures belong in Lego Star Wars. I think yellow Minifigures are best reserved for Lego's original stuff and licensed material should have their own colors that more or less match the real characters they're based on. Unless it's characters like Spongebob or Homer Simpson who are already yellow.

And I hope I ain't shooting myself in the foot for saying this, but if they followed with how the real-life Minifigures were, light-skinned characters would have been yellow, and dark-skinned characters like Mace Windu and Captain Panaka would have had their own color. It would have been a little weird and inconsistent seeing so many human characters that were yellow and then a few with their actual colors. Although I doubt they would do this, if they did make Mace Windu and Panaka yellow, they wouldn't be as recognizable. In the end, giving all the characters their own color I think worked better.

Note: It is worth noting though that LSWI does have a cut character based on an original Minifigure called "Spaceman" that was yellow and you can find a random Jedi in the Geonosian arena that is yellow, but that's it.
 
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Naboo Plains, Tatooine Dune Sea, both Rhen Var and Bespin maps, Kashykk Docks, Geonosis Spire, and Yavin Arena in Star Wars Battlefront II (2005).
Okay these are maps from the first game and I don't remember where I read it, but I read somewhere they were going to be in the PS2 version of the game. While they were later added to the Xbox version as DLC and modders ported them to the PC version, they were cut from the PS2 version of the game. Although I loved these maps in the first game, I'm a little split on them being in BF2. Part of me wished they were included and in some ways I still kind of wish they were, but after some thinking, I am actually glad they weren't.

Why? Well simply put, it gives me some incentive to go back and play the first game again. While the first game was a bit different from it's sequel, had they included those maps in it, it would have made the 1st game somewhat irrelevant to me and I probably wouldn't find myself wanting to play it much anymore. While I have a feeling many may disagree with me, which I can easily see why, I am kind of glad they weren't included in the PS2 version of Battlefront II (2005).
 
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The Gr.X category in Gran Turismo 7.

Yep, it was originally meant to appear in Gran Turismo 7 according to the Collector (Behind The Scenes) trailer. Later, it was cut. Yeah, because of the removal of the Gr.X category, vintage race cars can race against most Vision Gran Turismo cars, pace cars, and most other former Gr.X cars.
 
Animedeaf
The Gr.X category in Gran Turismo 7.

Yep, it was originally meant to appear in Gran Turismo 7 according to the Collector (Behind The Scenes) trailer. Later, it was cut. Yeah, because of the removal of the Gr.X category, vintage race cars can race against most Vision Gran Turismo cars, pace cars, and most other former Gr.X cars.
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On that note, I think I saw that the N-class system was originally gonna return in earlier builds of GT7. I think the PP system - flawed as it is - is much superior, as classifying road cars purely by HP seemed so stupid to me, especially with heavier cars like the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat or the Bugatti Veyron.
 
The unused dog round themes in Call of Duty World at War zombies.

So theirs 2 themes in zombies that were going to play during the dog rounds but were cut from the final game. Those being mx_dog_wave and mx_dog_wave_b, at least according to their file names.

While many wish these had been used, I personally am glad they were cut from the game because they don't quite fit the atmosphere of the levels very well in my opinion, if anything they seem rather out of place instead. I personally like how quiet it is during the dog rounds in the final because you can hear them more clearly and it honestly makes the experience much scarier. Just thinking about how the zombie rounds usually have a rather quiet theme playing throughout the game (barring the round changes and easter egg songs) and then transitioning to these much louder themes every time a dog round starts would have felt rather disruptive and a bit distracting.

While I think what they did in the end was the right call, I will admit, I like mx_dog_wave_b a lot, and not to contradict myself, but I kind of wish they could've used it for something, something other than the dog rounds. Now mx_dog_wave however, I don't care for this one much at all. It's just weird and is little more than a slightly different snippet of the song "The One" from Shi No Numa. It sounds more like an unfinished piece of music than something that is supposed to play on loop and it doesn't feel very unique compared to mx_dog_wave_b. They were right to exclude that one.
 
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Standard cars in Gran Turismo 7.

Source: https://www.gtplanet.net/no-prologue-for-gran-turismo-7-standard-cars-likely-included/

Yep, it was from 2014. During its early, old development, standard/simple cars were originally meant to appear in Gran Turismo 7. I was disappointed that some of my favorite cars, such as a Toyota Supra Mark IV, weren't premium cars like others of my favorite cars, such as a Nissan Skyline GTR R34, a Chevrolet Camaro, and a Dodge Challenger. Yep, I am glad that GT Sport finally solved an issue where some cars like a Toyota Supra Mark 4 weren't premium cars. I am also glad that standard/simple cars were later cut from Gran Turismo 7 during its restart development for obvious reasons such as big differences between the PS3 architecture and the PS4 and PS5 architecture and the fact that Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 6 received a bit of negative reception for including standard/simple/PS2 and PSP model cars.
 
The unused Ghost round theme from Call of Duty Black Ops II.

So this was a song that was originally intended to be used during the Ghost round whenever you enter the mansion, but what we got instead was a much more somber theme for them. I like this theme, in fact I'm listening to it right now, but it's a good thing it got cut because it really does not fit in with the rest of the soundtrack and sounds so out of place, it feels like it was meant for a completely different map than this one. What we got in the final goes so much better with it than this and fits the atmosphere of the mansion like a glove. So I firmly believe they were right to exclude this one.
 
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Decidueye in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Source: https://nintendowire.com/news/2019/...lmost-in-smash-bros-ultimate-and-other-facts/

Decidueye was originally meant to be a newcomer fighter in SSBU. Yep, I am glad that Decidueye was replaced with Incineroar because Decidueye would be a Pokemon clone of Kid Icarus' Pit and Dark Pit due to their similar special moves. Mr. Sakurai never designed a wrestling fighter before.
 
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Not hidden content, but rather a regional change. In the Japanese version of Zelda: Majora's Mask, you need to use Zora Link to do a jump from underwater to gain access to the marine laboratory. Problem is that the swimming controls are kinda finicky, especially on original hardware with the N64's crappy stick. They must of realised this, as in the US and European versions, they rounded off the platform's edges and made it climbable, meaning you can simply grab on to the side and climb up from the water's surface instead (Japanese on the left, US/EU on the right).

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I'm glad they made that change, Zora Link's swimming controls were and still are a royal pain.
 
Heat level 6-10 in Need for Speed Most Wanted (2005).

So originally this game was going to have the heat level go up as high as 10. While 6 and 7 aren't exactly unused, 6 is reserved for the final pursuit in career mode, and event 68 in the challenge series, and 7 is only used in event 70, but they were intended to be used normally at one point. In the final though, unless you do the other things I mentioned, heat level 5 is the highest you can go and I am really glad the others were cut from the game.

Why? Well here are my thoughts:
  • It would have been even harder to escape from the cops than the others and while I could probably handle the challenge, others may be turned away by it.
  • Something that frustrated me a lot as a kid is how easy it was to get into a pursuit at unwanted times on the higher heat levels. Especially if you're like me and don't like having autosave on, haven't saved in a while, and need to get off soon, only to get into an inconvenient pursuit preventing you from going to the garage to save. Heat level 5 is already bad enough for this as it is and having higher heat levels just means an increased likelihood of this happening.
  • Perhaps the biggest problem I have with this is if you accumulate really high heat levels on your car, like 10 for instance, you're going have to wait a very long time for it to go down to a low level again. Yes, you can alter the appearance of your car to lower the heat, but even if you did, you'd still have to do a lot of races and pursuits in another car just to drop it down to a low level again.
In the end, I think they made the right call capping it at 5 because heat level 5 is just enough, and having heat levels 6 and 7 reserved for certain parts of the game is fine. Having anything more than that just isn't needed here and seems a bit excessive in my opinion, so I am glad it was cut.
 
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Wario as a main villain from Donkey Kong Country 1.

Source: https://www.nintendo.destructoid.com/original-pitch-donkey-kong-country-wario/

In the original pitch of Donkey Kong Country 1, Wario was originally planned to be a main villain. I am glad that Wario was replaced with King K. Rool because it makes sense why Donkey Kong Country 1 was the first video game where Donkey Kong is playable and a reboot of the Donkey Kong franchise.
 
Stormy Ascent in Crash Bandicoot (PS1).

So this was a level in the first game that was intended to be the first level in the game but was cut for being way too hard, and rightly so! It's essentially an even harder version of the already very hard Slippery Climb and having this at the start of the game would not only be a massive difficulty spike from the start, but it would have undoubtedly turned off a lot of people from playing the rest of the game. The game is already far too difficult as it is in my opinion and the last thing it needs is even more difficulty, so it was good that this was cut and we didn't have to worry about completing it. Though to be fair, I read on TCRF that they wanted to make it easier and didn't have time to do it, but if they did, I bet it wouldn't be as bad, but who knows? 🤷

I must admit though, I am glad they at least left it on the disc for people to play via hacking and having it as DLC in the remake. Those that want to play it can still do it and those that don't can simply ignore it since it's not essential to completing the game. (thank goodness)
 
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Shelia's early design in Spyro Year of the Dragon.

So an old prototype build of the game surfaced just recently and because of this, we get a good look at an early design of Shelia the Kangaroo in this build. While it may be from September 4th 2000, Shelia and her test level are believed to be much older than any known builds out there. Right off the bat, I don't like Shelia's old design and I am glad it wasn't used. So what is my issue with it?
  1. I don't like those devil horns, I generally don't like anything with them, but I especially don't like them on Shelia. While I am aware she can be a little feisty, having those there not only looks weird and very out of place on her, but she is at the end of the day a supporting protagonist for Spyro and this I feel contradicts that. Even if she was a villain, I still am not sure I would like this design on her.
  2. Those kicking and walking sound effects are loud and annoying, walking sound effects especially. They're too loud and I think having to hear them for long periods would drive me crazy. To be fair though, these may have been placeholder sounds for her and they didn't have proper ones yet.
  3. Maybe this is the result of her design being really early, but it's missing some features, like the spots on her back.
I am really glad they didn't go with this version of the character because the Shelia we got in the final looks more normal and so much better without those devil horns. Insomniac was right to change her appearance afterward.
 
The original Spike boss fight in Spyro Year of the Dragon.

So in the April 25th, 2000 demo of Spyro Year of the Dragon, we get to see an early version of the boss fight against Spike and it has a lot of things different from the final. Some of these differences include:
  1. No power-ups for Spyro, those rocks you have to knock at him are the only thing you can use against him.
  2. Spike uses the aforementioned rocks as power-ups.
  3. The shots from his gun home in on you more so than they do in the final, so they're harder to avoid.
  4. He has an extra attack not seen in the final that allows him to shock most if not all of the arena, which is very hard to avoid.
  5. When he's on his last hit, theirs a volcano that spawns in the middle of the level, and after a while it will start spewing lava rocks everywhere.
  6. Spike has a smaller hitbox.
  7. No fodder spawns in. (could just be because it hadn't been added yet)
Why am I glad it was changed? Simply put, while he's not "very" hard and can still be defeated, he's harder than he needs to be in this version of the game, his electric attack is hard to dodge and the volcano is just unnecessary. They were right to tone it back in the final and the power-ups we got are pretty fun to use against him.
 
Sonygamer455
The SIG files in Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver (PC).
These files are music files that were apparently planned to be added to the game at some point, but thankfully never were. The songs are essentially shorter versions of the ones used in the game, possibly intended to loop according to TCRF, with an abrupt ending and really bad sound quality. I am really glad these didn’t make it to the final game because they’re shorter and sound less interesting than the final and the sound quality is absolutely abysmal, easily to worst I have ever heard from a video game. And no that’s not the compression of the video butchering the audio, it just as terrible without it.

What they did with the music in the end was so much better. They had much better sound quality, they were longer and generally more interesting to listen to and overall sounded more like a proper soundtrack to the game.
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When I was younger, I had "Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama" on my PC. The game is from 1996, and it included shorter, lower-quality versions of the music which would be used if the game detected that your computer's specs were on the low end. This Hot Wheels game is from 1998, so maybe it's the same deal. The game would load the smaller music files to save resources when necessary.
 
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Hlavco
When I was younger, I had "Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama" on my PC. The game is from 1996, and it included shorter, lower-quality versions of the music which would be used if the game detected that your computer's specs were on the low end. This Hot Wheels game is from 1998, so maybe it's the same deal. The game would load the smaller music files to save resources when necessary.
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Interesting theory! I didn't know this sort of thing existed until now. However, I am a little skeptical about this in Stunt Track Driver's case because I feel like if this were the case, we would already know about it, but I could be wrong.
 
Animedeaf
Standard cars in Gran Turismo 7.

Source: https://www.gtplanet.net/no-prologue-for-gran-turismo-7-standard-cars-likely-included/

Yep, it was from 2014. During its early, old development, standard/simple cars were originally meant to appear in Gran Turismo 7. I was disappointed that some of my favorite cars, such as a Toyota Supra Mark IV, weren't premium cars like others of my favorite cars, such as a Nissan Skyline GTR R34, a Chevrolet Camaro, and a Dodge Challenger. Yep, I am glad that GT Sport finally solved an issue where some cars like a Toyota Supra Mark 4 weren't premium cars. I am also glad that standard/simple cars were later cut from Gran Turismo 7 during its restart development for obvious reasons such as big differences between the PS3 architecture and the PS4 and PS5 architecture and the fact that Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 6 received a bit of negative reception for including standard/simple/PS2 and PSP model cars.
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This was probably back when "GT7" at the time ended up being what was released as GT Sport.
 
The early version of the thief chase on Molten Crater in Spyro Year of the Dragon.

So in the April 25th, 2000 demo of the game, we get to see an incredibly different version of this sub-level than what we ended up with. The sub-level itself is almost completely different from the final and much simpler in design, not much else to say about that, but the egg thieves themselves however are nothing at all like the final. They're fairly tall Rhynocs instead of the typical thieves we usually see and like them, they run from you the moment you get near them. However, they're EXTREMELY hard to catch, to the point you pretty much have to use hacks to defeat them. (though I've seen one person do it without them, good luck trying to do it)

Why am I glad it was cut? Well for starters, the sub-level we got was much more interesting, it had a lot more going for it than this one ever did and generally, it was more pleasing to look at. Most importantly though, those egg thieves were far too difficult to catch and while I imagine they would've been toned back before release, I still wouldn't really want them much anyway. Every other instance of the egg thief was the same in design with just different colors, and then you have these that are nothing at all like them, which makes them a little out of place in the game. While I like the old sub-level and these designs of the egg thieves, I am glad that's not what we ended up with.
 

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